Customer Reviews

Real Emotional Girl

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This elfin young Canadian has a beautiful voice: clear and pure and cultured. From the opening lines of the opening song you can hear her classical training, but, perhaps because of the material, I think she'll put you more in mind of a slightly dusky Julie Andrews rather than Cecilia Bartoli. The singing here is definitely worth the price of admission. The material, though, is not easily labeled. It's not jazz. It's not pop. I've seen it called cabaret. Whatever you call it, it certainly is eclectic. Represented, are three French songs (in French, of course), songs (and show tunes) from Kurt Weil, Randy Newman (the title track), Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam fame).

Leaving aside the three songs in French, which I can't speak to, except to say her accent sounds good, there are a couple of uneven spots in the material and the attempt to apply this lovely, cultured voice to Dylan just doesn't work. As against that, however, there is also some outstanding material here. Ms. O'Callaghan neatly turns the usually dark Leonard Cohen into cheeky fun on "I'm Your Man". Her "A Singer Must Die" and "Take This Waltz" are wonderfully tender yet powerful; "Stay Well" is poignant and stunning; and "Hallelujah" and "Joan of Arc" are given about as perfect a rendering as any Leonard Cohen songs are ever going to get. They are so emotionally well wrought that you could almost cry with the longing and the loss. She bares the emotion at the heart of his poetry with control, precision, and just the right amount of detachment. Just absolutely superb!

I think that this young lady is destined for greatness. This disc, on balance, is a thumbs up effort. I look forward to more from her and can recommend that you give this one a listen.

Thank goodness Patricia O'Callaghan's talents aren't hidden away at some expensive opera house for only a few to hear, though her style and technique would certainly be appreciated in such a setting. Instead, this bad-ass chanteuse has chosen the bold path of Cabaret Singer.
So, as on this album, she immerses herself in good, but not typical songs: Leonard Cohen, Kurt Weill, and Pearl Jam. And here's a rare talent: she actually GETS the lyrics and the music. She wraps her voice around the songs with appropriately intense dynamics and phrasing.
"Real Emotional Girl" is an album for those who don't need preset labels for their music: when great songs, great singing, and interesting arrangements are enough. It's a real treat. Patricia O'Callaghan is a singer with a strong, beautifully clear voice and heck of a lot of grit.

Outstanding voice and good music. A real winner. Hope she does more soon.

Ms. O'Callaghan will probably not thank me for saying so, but this is obviously very similar to I wish it so, by Dawn Upshaw. In fact it is almost as good (and almost as good as I wish it so is very good indeed).

The songs are eclectic, and very well done (as an aside, they also document that Leonard Cohen is better heard than understood and in particular drive home the fact that he is _not_ a major poet, but that is another discussion). Major high points are the title, by Randy Newman, and Better Man by by Pearl Jam, but the overall standard is memorably good.

Definitely far up on my 'would replace immediately if I lost it' list.

Incidentally, I bought this on spec after reading a huge, and very positive, three quarter page review in (of all places) the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: I remember that when I asked in the shop after it, the man took out huge box of copies from behind the counter - Clearly I was not the only one buying in Germany that month.

I bought this CD thinking I'd found something by an innovative/experimental jazz singer who was willing to tackle songs by Eddie Vedder and Bob Dylan. What I heard was a recording by an opera singer -- yes, the overly precise enunciation, lack of vocal innovation, and demurely "crystalline" tones -- who scores points for trying something like this, but is doomed to failure. I've seen so many comedians do "opera singer tries to get soulful" skits that this CD, for me, teetered on the edge of self-parody.

I bought this CD, because I thought that it had an interesting choice of material (e.g., lots of Leonard Cohen songs). However, this singer's voice is just not well-suited to the material. The delivery is too formal and classical for music that really requires a jazzier behind-the-beat approach.